The Living Dead
by kam234
Summary: Cassandra Dare hasn't seen a living person in two months. She's alone with no food, no shelter, and she's running out of ammo. She starts losing hope and almost gets killed until a living boy rescues her life. And that boy, is not alone. Together, they help each other stay alive and discover something that would change the world they're living in.
1. Chapter 1

**(A/N: So this is my first fanfic. I had made one before but decided not to finish it, because I had no ideas. But I think I'm up to finishing this one.)**

It was amazing that I survived this long. Two months had passed and I was all alone, hungry and scared. What once was half a year worth of bullets, was now just less than one hundred. But at least I carried a sharp sword with me, which helped defend myself from the Walkers, even though I had to get up close. The problem was, what I would do when I ran out of bullets and I came across a herd, or a herd came across me. I wouldn't stand a chance. It all started when I was at home with my family.

**_Two months earlier: _**"This is some really good pizza, mom, thanks," I said as I munched on the delicious taco pizza.

"You're welcome, dear. It's my pleasure, after all you've done to help John cope," Mom said.

Dad died of brain cancer just a few weeks earlier, and my little brother, John, wasn't taking it very well. "I'm just doing what I have to. We're all suffering, but John was the closest to Dad." I placed my plate into the sink.

"Yes, he was." Mom looked up from cutting a cucumber. I could still see the dark circles under her eyes that had been visible since Dad died. "Could you turn on the news, Cass?"

I grabbed the remote and turned to the news. _"Doctors have found a virus that infects the brain after death. It can affect your actions and health when you're alive, so they advise anyone with symptoms of major headache, vomiting, hallucinating, and fever, to see a doctor right away. This can only be spread by the exchange of fluids. Eventually, everyone in every city will be tested to see if you have the virus. A cure has not been found, but they say they are close. Now, on to the weather." _I quickly turned the channel as John walked in.

"Grab something to eat, John," Mom advised him. He nodded, but didn't say a word.

The doorbell rung and I said, "Expecting someone?"

"No, I wasn't."

"I'll go get it." I opened the door and found two men in white suits. "How may I help you?"

"Are you Elizabeth Dare?" the tall and skinny man with glasses asked.

"No, that's my mom. I'll go-"

"I'm right here." My mom appeared by my side, still with her apron on. "Who are you?"

"We are from the Medical Bureau," the short and plump man answered. "We're here to test you."

"Why us?" Mom asked.

"We found that your husband had this new disease, if you haven't heard about it. Well, he has it, and he's become zombie-like. He's dead, has no memories, no conscious, and only has the potential to kill and feed. One of our men got infected by him. That is all we can say. Now, if you'll just let us in and get this over with, Elizabeth."

"You expect me to believe you? My husband is _dead. _Don't joke around with me," she yelled.

"Whether or not you believe us, we have to test you, by order of the president."

Mom's shoulders stiffened and she looked like she was going to punch them, but she nodded and let them in. "How does this 'test' go?"

"First, we check your eyes, and then we'll take a sample of your blood and take it back to the lab. It'll be really quick. Is your whole family here?" The skinny man pulls out a pad and pen.

"Yes. Could you go get John?" Mom asked me. I nodded and went to get John. He was still in the same place he was before: sitting on the stool, eating pizza.

"Mom needs you, John," I told him. He looked over at me and nodded. I grabbed his hand and headed back to the men and Mom.

_What will they do if we're infected? _I thought. _What the hell is going on? _

When I got back, I saw them taking Mom's blood, and the skinny doctor taking notes.

"Cass, this is Doctor Bennet," Mom pointed to the skinny man, "and this is Doctor Aizen," she pointed to the other man. When they finished with her, they checked me.

I spoke up. "How long will it take to check everyone? And what will happen if we are infected?"

"If something slips up, we're going to have to evacuate this city. This is where it started, so we'll start here. But cities all around are being checked at this moment, and people are coming in," Dr. Bennet announced. "I'm not supposed to tell you this, but, we're building up places to keep people safe in case we have an epidemic. The military, navy, a lot of people, will be rounded up to guard these places if something happens. The virus isn't in anyone who has been dead for a long time, as far as we know. It's only showed up in your husband and a few others."

"A few meaning how many?" Mom interrupted as Dr. Aizen tested John.

"About a few hundred, all of which we have kept confined. They said the virus can be transmitted by fluids, and that's right, but you have to die and have the virus to become an Infected. And another way is if one of the Infected bite you, even if you're already dead."

"How do you know this?"

"We saw it happen, not too long ago, and reported it. To answer your other question," he looked at me, "we also have to keep the alive and infected confined. We'll take them to someplace safe, away from everyone else, just in case." He finished testing me at the same time Dr. Aizen finished with John. "Sorry to say this, but Elizabeth, you are both infected. Your daughter and son are fine for now, and they can come with you to the facility. We'll need you to pack your bags and head to the hospital by tomorrow. We'll meet you there at ten in the morning."

Mom looked at me and John, her eyes wide with terror, but she nodded and dismissed the two doctors. "Okay, you two, let's get packing."

The next day we headed to the hospital. I was too shocked to think, and John hadn't said a word. For all I knew, he probably hadn't been listening.

"Cass, if something happens, keep yourself and John safe. Don't worry about me, just protect yourself. I have a feeling this will only get worse, but I know you can cope through this. I know you are strong." Mom glanced at me, lowering her voice. "There's a few guns and a lot of bullets at home. At the first sign of panic in the hospital, take my car and go home, pack up the guns, and come back. We'll say our good byes there. When they take you away, don't tell anyone about the guns. I love you so very much." She raised her voice. "I love you, John."

He looked up from his phone. "Love you, too, mom."

**_Now_:** A few weeks after we had practically lived in the hospital, the city and others were evacuated. We had been separated from mom, and the facility we stayed it got overrun. They had never told us what happened, but I had expected the few hundred infected Dr. Bennet talked about turned into a few thousand just over a month. John and I had run, but I had lost him when a herd ambushed us at night.

I didn't know if he was dead. I didn't know if he was alive. He was two years younger than me, fifteen. Too young to die. I'd been running for a month and a half by myself, trying to stay alive, and trying to find John. I hadn't seen a living soul since I got separated from John. The only thing I did see, were Walkers.

**(So, what do you think? Please review!)**


	2. Chapter 2

**(A/N: Here's chapter two for you guys. Enjoy, and review.) **

I jolted awake and quickly pulled out my gun. I looked around the dark abandoned room, but it was only the wind. Sighing, I grabbed my water bottle and drank a sip. I was running out of food, with only a can of beans and two bottles of water left. I hadn't eaten a full meal in two months. I'd have to find some food soon or I would starve and be weak, unable to kill Walkers.

I was in a small house in the middle of the country. I had scouted the area at once, finding not too many zombies around, as I'd suspected. I spent a week here, but now it was time to go. I went to the bathroom and quickly washed my face, ignoring the skeleton in the corner of the room. There was still running water, but it was cold and probably wouldn't last another week. I ran my damp fingers in my long brown hair, which was dirty and itched. I'd thought about cutting it, but decided not to.

I turned off the water and headed outside. Pulling out my compass, I looked in the direction of the west. I planned on going to New Mexico, where there was supposedly survivors there. I had doubts, but I needed to try. I closed the compass and headed west. So far, there were no Walkers in sight, and hopefully it would stay that way.

The road was about half a mile from here, but I tried to stay away from it. The last time I was close to the road, a herd came by and I almost got caught, luckily seeing them with my binoculars ahead of time. I would try to get a car, but there hadn't been one back at the house. I needed to get a car; staying on foot wouldn't get me very far anymore.

I walked for ten minutes before pulling out my binoculars. There was a desolate town in the distance, but it would likely have Walkers. If I went there, I might get eaten, but if I didn't, I might starve. I ran the situation over in my head a million times. I silently cursed as I found myself heading toward the town. These days, decisions were mainly life and death.

When I reached the town, I immediately had my katana in hand. A few Walkers were hovering near a car, but I just ignored them and walked around a tall brick building. On the other side of the building was a problem; there was a pack of about fifteen Walkers walking around. Another problem was that they were in front of a grocery store that I needed to get into. I turned back around and leaned against the building. I wouldn't be able to kill them all on my own.

I went back to where I started and eyed the three Walkers near the car. Them, I could take on. I silently crept up and stopped behind a bus. Sword in hand, I walked up and sliced the first Walker's head in half. The other two came charging at me, but I swung around and took their heads off with one swing. I swiped my sword downward to get the blood off. I looked down at the bodies. This would be the nasty part.

I cut open the chest of one of the Walkers, holding my breath as I did so. I grabbed an old, prickly blanket out of my bag and smothered one side of it with blood and guts. Wrapping it around me, I again went to the other side of the building. I stepped out and walked slowly, trying to look as zombie-like as I could. A few Walkers glanced at me with their hollow eyes, but did nothing else. Inside the store, there were fallen and empty shelves. It was a small store, broken glass and bottles lying on the floor. I quickly looked around for food and ammo. Behind a counter was a box of stale-looking crackers which I placed in my bag. I searched the shelves and the floor for guns and ammo, finding none.

Back outside, I avoided the Walkers and looked around for anything useful. There weren't many Walkers on the other side of the town, but I still didn't sheath my sword. There were no signs of inhabitants; no arrows pointing to safety, no words saying that there's shelter somewhere. I kept quiet, traveling behind houses and buildings. I spotted a car and decided to take a look. The keys were still inside, along with a rotten body. I shoved the body out of the car and tossed my bloody blanket on top of it. My eyes roamed the car with caution and checked the fuel, which was halfway. I sheathed my sword and tossed it in the passenger seat with my book bag before pulling off. I took the back road and found the highway. With this much gas, I'd have to find more in about three hours.

There weren't any cars on the road, luckily. If I got close to a city, then there would probably be a lot of cars, so I'd have to stay away from that. I looked at my watch, which would run out of battery soon. It read 2:34. Before it got dark, I needed to find shelter. Nobody should go out at night unless they wanted to die, especially if they came across a herd.

The highway stretched farther than I could see. I checked to make sure I was headed west and continued on. I saw a lone Walker and an abandoned car, but nothing to be worried about. I ran my fingers through my hair as the wind threw it back.

I was scared; so, so very scared. The two months I spent alone were filled with pain and sadness. I had thought about ending my life, but decided I had something to live for: my brother. That is, if he was still alive. And maybe there was still hope out there. Maybe there was someone who was trying to find a cure and was so close. I needed to find out. I couldn't give up hope yet. These times were hard, but I thanked God I was still alive and not a Walker, lifeless and dead, craving flesh. Hopefully, John wasn't one either.

_**Two months ago: **_I was dreaming of my fourteenth birthday party. I had gotten a new Nikon camera and two lenses. Photography was my passion. It made me happy. I had first gotten into it when I took photography class in school. Plus, my dad was a photographer for fun. He taught me everything I knew; from the basics of taking pictures to editing them on the computer. My dad had been my role model. When he had been diagnosed with cancer two years later, he was hospitalized and I couldn't spend any time with him, but I had kept taking pictures with the Nikon he'd given me and showed him my work.

I was jolted awake from my dream with John shoving my shoulder. My eyes slammed open and looked at him.

"Get up!" he yelled.

"What the hell is going-" I started, but remembered that I was supposed to be keeping watch. I glanced outside and saw a herd of Walkers around the house. I quickly threw my jacket on and swung my book bag over my shoulders. "Let's go!" We burst out of the house that we'd been staying in for two days.

The Walkers were everywhere. I took out my gun and started shooting so we could have a clear path. We kept running and John threw the last grenade we had behind him. The blast shook my head and I couldn't hear anything for a moment. I looked behind us and saw that more Walkers replaced the dead ones. They started running after us when suddenly, John stopped.

"What the hell are you doing?" I snapped, tugging on his arm.

"We won't make it," he replied, his face hidden by the darkness.

"Yes we will! Just come on!" I glanced at the Walkers ten yards away from us.

"I'll hold them off. You run." He started shooting at the Walkers.

"John, you know I can't do that."

"You have to. I'll be right behind you. Get the bike and head southwest. There might be people who are alive in Georgia. Now _go._"

I stared at his back and handed him one of my guns before running off. I knew he wouldn't come right away, but I didn't know he wouldn't come at all. I didn't look behind me because I didn't want to see my brother getting eaten. By the time I got to the motorcycle, the sun was already up. I put in the key and drove off. Before I knew it, tears were streaming out of my eyes and were torn off of my face by the wind.

My mom had told me to protect John, and I had promised. I just broke that promise. How could I protect myself if I couldn't protect him? But was there a chance he was still alive? He could've- No. I stopped thinking about it and focused on driving. West, he'd said west.

For the next hour or so I didn't see anything but road, land, and a few roaming Walkers. The sun was behind me and heated my back. My tears were now dry on my face as I kept riding toward the last words I heard my brother say.

_**Now: **_I kept driving and driving, constantly checking the fuel gauge. It was now ten till six. I'd have to find shelter soon. But now, I just enjoyed the good feeling of the wind in my hair, which I knew wouldn't last.

**(So.. Not many people have been reviewing. Please review and follow my stories. Tell me what you think. I need feedback.) **


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